


One Step Forward

by Skysquid22



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Banter, Birthday, Cat Lover Gavin Reed, Cats, Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, Drinking, Fluff, Gift Giving, I finished this yesterday, M/M, Not Beta Read, POV Alternating, Relationship set to simmer, Slow Burn, Soft Gavin Reed, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900, Swearing, first time writing for these two, there's so much porn for this ship omg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 09:20:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16216091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skysquid22/pseuds/Skysquid22
Summary: Gavin spent his birthday the same way every year.But this year was gonna be a lot different. And of course he was always known to be the most accepting of change.





	One Step Forward

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing these two so forgive me for the sloppy characterization. Because I still gotta figure them out. I also haven't really written anything in a long ass time so it's very stunted and not beta'd. 
> 
> I got more fluffy fic ideas for these two so I hope you enjoy this and what's to come. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also Happy 16th birthday you stinky bastard man. (or 37th in cannon)

Gavin spent his birthday the same way every year. 

If Hank didn’t hate him completely at the time he and Tina would find sometime during the week or the day of to take him out and get him as drunk as possible. He’d allow himself another hour to sleep in, Fowler always waved it off. On top of that he would always spend an extra amount of time by getting himself an americano before he bothered stepping into the precinct. Before they got him plastered they gave him their gifts, always something small, always something stupid. 

And of course every year there was some kind of internal drama between squad members. Reed pissed off Hank a little too much so he wouldn’t come with him to the bar and yet still gave him a gift. Tina was trying to keep herself together after a harsh breakup and would still do her damndest to keep Gavin cheered up. One time they took him out soon after a long and argrous serial case, which dampened the mood, but they kept appearances. 

This year was gonna be a lot different. And of course he was always known to be the most accepting of change. 

This year he and Hank wouldn’t be lamenting together their troubles with men. No, this year he had Connor, who turned that anti-android frown upside down and made him healthy lunches. The two were gonna be insufferable. Tina was something familiar on the other hand, she had a girlfriend now and stayed friends with him through his little android ‘ah shit I like him’ crisis and grown as a result of it. 

Then, there was him.

When Gavin looked back on himself a year ago he winced, he wasn’t a nice person. But Tina stressed that he had both grown as people and now they could move on with the knowledge they’ve gained. She was always a bit of a philosophical drunk. Connor wasn’t the only android to appear in his circle of friends, the newest addition and possibly the most dangerous was Nines.

He became his assigned partner six months ago and of course Gavin did not take it well at the time. After that much time they became less hostile to each other though. He stopped insulting him with the nickname of tincan and in return wasn’t called meatbag anymore. Though they’ve passed first impressions there was a part of Gavin that was still yelling at him for being friendly towards Nines. 

But he wasn’t gonna ruin his celebratory drinks on being a dick to everyone, then he’d have to pay for them. 

With a pep in his step, the likes of which the office has never seen, he entered work semi-rested and only an hour and thirty five minutes late.

\---

Work went smoothly.

He and Nines were called for a noise complaint that turned out to be nothing and yet he walked away not feeling like he wasted his time. Throughout the expedition he could tell Nines was taking note of his downright pleasant demeanor. That little light blue LED kept spinning throughout questioning and even through the ride back to the station. Then, after a few quiet moments Nines gently announced, “Happy birthday Detective.”

Gavin kept his eyes on the road, said nothing, and smirked. 

When they returned he barely had a minute to sit at his desk and regroup before Connor strided over. Hands behind his back and standing attention he began, “Hank told me that the reason you’re so cheery today is because it’s your birthday.” 

Before Connor could continue with his train of thought Anderson huffed and yelled cockily over his shoulder. “He’s only happy because we’re buying him drinks.” 

Gavin smirked because it was true and because Connor seemed peeved that he was interrupted. Any chance to throw an android off their game was an opportunity that would be rude to pass. The moment didn’t last long, damn tin cans were quick to recover. “I know our relationship has always been… tumultuous. But I think now is the time to really put forth some effort into rekindling our bromance.”

This time Connor smirked at the connotation and Gavin frowned at the memory of being knocked out by one well placed hit. Then, well aware that no one could see it but him, Connor winked.

Fucker.

Slowly he pulled his arms from around his back to show a rectangle shaped present. The gift had a deep green wrapping paper encasing it with a lime colored cellophane ribbon tying it up. The one downside to his birthday is that he always hated accepting gifts. He could feel Anderson and Chen’s eyes watching him take the present from Connor’s hands. Nines, sitting at the desk opposite of him, was also subtly watching the transaction. 

Shit. Now he was obligated to open the present then, and say thanks. God. In front of the whole precinct. 

Guess that’s karma.

The wrapping was perfect, right out of a movie practically. Ever graceful Gavin ripped into and after opening the box he took out a sleek stainless steel thermos. It was clearly of high quality and a sticker on the silicone boasted its ability to keep things hot or cold for twenty four hours. 

Gavin wasn’t sure how long he stared at the gift, truthfully he was buying time for what to say. All he knew is that he didn’t wanna say ‘thank you’, well he did, but not here. Not so openly, he had a reputation to uphold.

Fortunately Nines’ stick up his ass saved him. Blue LED calm as ever he stood up from his desk and rounded around to where Connor was standing. From this position it blocked Anderson’s and Chen’s sightline. “I’m afraid we have to go. I just got a call pertaining to a suspect in our case and I would like Detective Reed to accompany me.”

God he was a shit liar when it came to matters not involving an investigation. He’d figure that his ‘howtolie101’ file was open all the time, but no. 

Gavin knew a life saver when he saw one though. Pushing himself up from his chair and forcing Connor to step back he put the gift and it’s shiny packaging on his desk. Stuffing his hands into his pockets Gavin nodded once at Connor as a pseudo-thanks and led Nines outside. 

Soon as he hit the parking lot he breathed a sigh of relief. Instead of a thank you Gavin gave the next best thing, an insult. “Jesus. Quite the lie there B-9. Now what do we do? If we go back in now we’re admitting defeat.”

Nines followed and walked around to the passenger door. “Well, Will Robinson, I did actually get a call as we were leaving. It’s not for our case, but it’s still something we can do until the appropriate amount of time has passed.”

Gavin covered a smirk with a hand over his mouth and sighed. “Uhg. Okay fine.” he unlocked the car and got in, Nines mirrored the move and sat patiently as he started to fiddle with his phone, “Just tell me the address.” 

\---

It was another goddamn noise complaint. Which, again, turned out to be nothing. 

Gavin practically leaped down the brownstone once they were done, “Next time just give me the address to something fucking fun.”

Slower, but still behind him Nines tried to quell his grumbling, “Well, I didn’t know it was gonna be nothing.”

“But you _knew_ that it was a noise complaint.”

“That raccoon that got trapped in that garbage bin could’ve been a robber. You never know.” Nines smiled as he watched Gavin pull out of their parking spot.

“Right. And what dumbass robber was gonna get money off that lady’s _fuckin'_ Who’s Line dvd’s?”

Now in the midsts of traffic Gavin checked his phone. “That only took ten minutes.” Then he sat back for a minute, he knew all he had left of his work day was gonna be spent doing paperwork which he didn’t want to do. “I suppose we can patrol around for a little bit to kill more time. What do ya say Nines?”

“I don’t think tha--”

“Great! I know just the place.”

Nines for once didn’t bother trying to get his point across, he knew that it was going to get shut down. So instead he remained quiet, blue LED spinning in the window reflection. Through the rest of the ride he still stayed silent and it got on Gavin’s nerves. He knew that he’d talk enough for the both of them and thus it was hard to get a word in edgewise, but Nines was getting a lot more quiet as of late.

Gavin would never tell anyone this, but it bothered him that Nines wasn’t giving him as much banter as before. Instead it seemed more of a silent treatment. 

Shit, it was his fault, it always was. Gavin didn’t expect to get suddenly eaten up about it though, he wasn’t a stranger to pissing people off nor was he one to get ignored. But yet something about the fact that it was _Nines_ dealing it out bugged him. It got under his skin. Guilt seeped into his body tainting everything it touched, Gavin swore he could feel it traveling through his veins.

Eventually he stopped at the edge of a park, their view both laid cast to the city and to the trees. He was starting to reach a boiling point. 

Taking a deep breath, which sounded too loud in the car, he sighed, “Okay. Look I’m sorry.”

Nines straightened up and turned to face him. Gavin Reed, apologizing? In what world indeed. Reluctantly Gavin glanced over to get a read of him. His eyes were wide and alert, it reminded him how similar he and Connor actually were, besides the whole height, eye color, dress, and personality. More importantly his LED was swirling a pale yellow, that was another difference between the two, Nines almost never had his LED on a color other than blue. 

The start of the confession must’ve caught him off guard which made Gavin feel even more guilty.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what I did to piss you off, but knowing me it was something cruel that I said. So uh,” Gavin looked away from his steel eyes, but didn’t hide his face. Hey, that was progress, baby steps. “I know this is dickish, but if you could tell me what I said so I won’t repeat it or what I did so I don’t do it again… I think that… would help… or something.” He let out another shaky breath, okay hard part over, now cautiously he looked up to meet Nines’ eyes. 

That damn LED was still stuck on yellow, what the fuck was he thinking?

The silence seemed to stretch on forever, Gavin was fed up and was just about to ask if he shut off or something when he replied. 

Rushed, almost like he made it up off the spot Nines explained, “You were arguing with Lieutenant Anderson once and I overheard you referring to me as a glorified Roomba.” 

A beat passed.

Nines still continued to stare at him, Jesus, he could stare criminals into confessing like this. Which, he guessed was the point. 

Gavin couldn’t remember ever calling any android that, though the insult did sound like one he would use. On top of that he did get into arguments with Hank _a lot_ so it really wasn’t that far fetched to say that it did happen. Though Gavin was surprised that out of all the things to come out of his mouth that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

It’s not like he could make fun of that fact  
He was already midway through an apology, it’d be easier just to admit wrong doing rather than argue and go ten steps backwards.

So Gavin did something more rare than apologizing, he swallowed his pride.

“Okay, well---”

Gavin was cut off by a _laugh._ One that he’d never heard before and once he realized where it was coming from, one that he’d never thought he’d get to hear.

Nines giggled.

He fucking _giggled._

Gavin was so dumbstruck he could only let his jaw drop. 

Then, quick and suddenly as it came, the laugh ended. All that was left was a genuinely smiling Nines, a hint of teeth and all. 

Gavin felt weird.

“I was lying.”

Okay so the son of a bitch opened up the file whenever he felt like it apparently. 

“I didn’t mean to be so distant, I was just thinking. And well, sorry, I couldn’t resist the chance to fuck with you once you asked what was wrong.” Nines dropped the smile and straightened up in his seat, sensing an error. “That was rude. And you were being serious. So I apologize--”

Gavin groaned, reared back and put his hands over his eyes, he was doing mental gymnastics from wanting to punch him to casually making fun of one another, “Oh jesus fucking christ, we’re going in circles. How about we never talk about this again. Agreed?”

He strayed a look over to see Nines drop his shoulders slightly and lean back into his seat. “Agreed.” His LED returned to blue. 

Dropping his hands into his lap, Gavin kept staring at him. Why was he so quiet then? “What were you thinking about?” he blanched, “I know I just said that we drop this entire car ride from our existence but, I’m curious.”

He was expecting an non answer or even a complete dismissal, really wasn’t going in with many expectations. Yet he got an answer.

“I was… well. Perhaps it’ll be easier if I just show you.”

Gavin squinted, “Show me what.”

\---

After another awkward ten minutes Gavin pulled into a apartment complex. Somewhere among theses buildings was Nines’ apartment. He had no idea that he even had a place. Gavin never put much thought into where his partner lived, in fact none at all. But now he was curious to what it looked like. It was nearly six months since they met, so would he have any furniture? Books? Pets? A tv? Hell, appliances? And if so, why? 

Gavin shook his head, this whole thing felt off. It was like seeing a teacher outside of school.

He half-assed his parking and looked smug out of spite and revenge for earlier. Nines didn’t seem to care that much, for the most part he was silent again. Still quietly thinking about something that was bothering him for the past few days. With a curt ‘I’ll be right back’ he stepped out of the car and briskly paced over to the stairs. 

Soon as he got into his apartment Gavin grabbed a nearly empty cigarette carton from the dash, got out and rounded to the front so he sat on the hood. He pulled a lighter from his jacket and lit it up, fingers shaking slightly from the cold. 

Gavin always hated fall and winter weather, every year it’ll be cold enough for him to seriously think about quitting smoking just to avoid going outside. Of course those promises never lasted long, he’d just have to suffer. Him and his jacket that was getting worn down. He sniffed in the bitter air and hid a hand under his arm in an attempt to keep it warm. It certainly didn’t help that the sun was rapidly setting too, every minute more the temperature dropped. 

Just as he was finishing his cigarette and was considering going up there to drag him out Nines finally appeared. As he was descending the stairs with something slightly fluorescent in his arms Gavin yelled up at him.

“Fucking took you long enough. Did you get lost?”

Nines, in his posh CyberLife suit, came striding forward, “Sorry. I had to wrap it.”

At last he stopped before Gavin, who dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. He let out the last of his smoke in awe at the packaging. The wrapping paper was a similar deep green to Connor’s, it looked like someone let the androids know what his favorite color was. The bow that held the large flat box was a milky white, it seemed to glow under the fading sunset and the nearby lamp. And of course it was perfectly wrapped, Hallmark ain’t got shit on Nines. 

Intrigued Gavin carefully took the box from his hands, he gave one last look up at him to judge his response. Nines actually looked nervous, not so plainly, only in the subtlest of details like how his eyes couldn’t keep still. Jumping from feature to feature on Gavin’s face and how his LED was swirling blue at an accelerated rate.

So it was a gift that was bothering him, Nines was nervous if Gavin would like it or not.

That weird feeling from before was back. But he shook it off.

Smirking and not wasting any time Reed, like always, tore through the wrapping paper like it offended him. Once he got past the initial layer he lifted the tab for the box and his fingers caught cloth. Scrambling and in one fluid motion he pulled out the neatly folded coat and let it untangle in his grip. Minutely he felt Nines grab the box and wrapping paper from his hands as he examined it.

It honestly reminded Gavin of the coats detectives in film noirs wore. The coat was long, stretching well past his knees. It was made of an thick soft silky fiber, he suspected that it was actually waterproof, or maybe to a degree. On the inside was an inner layer that he could zip up and securely cover his neck in particularly bad weather. Buttons secured the outer layer and paired with a soft hood that looked like it could actually fit over head the coffee colored coat was looking to be the best gift he’d ever gotten. 

Damning the cold and curious to see if it would fit Gavin shed his old leather coat and threw it at Nines to catch. And, of course, he did. 

“I wasn’t sure what to get you. I tried to see what Officer Chen and Lieutenant Anderson got you in the past but I didn’t turn up much.”

The coat fit, no surprise there, “Yeah Hank gets me the same thing every year and Tina always gets me a practical joke.” To check Gavin threw up the hood and hey, he was right, it actually covered his head. 

“I noticed that your coat was clearly falling apart--”

“Oh, _clearly._ ”

“--and so I figured that a new coat was my best course of action. I hope you enjoy it, although, if not, I can return it for you.”

Gavin looked down at the fastened buttons and started to think through the gesture. He’d never seen this type of fabric before, it’s not like he visits the craft store regularly or some shit it’s just he has no idea how to really describe it. So therefore, it must be expensive as hell. Too scared to ask how much it cost Gavin made a mental note to not let him pay for anything ever again. 

“It’s. Fine.” Quickly he grabbed his leather jacket back from his arm and returned back to the car. “Come on. We better be getting back.”

The drive back was relatively painless except for the few smartass remarks about driving laws. 

_"Yeah well. We're still alive so. Shut the fuck up."_

After taking a moment to clock out Gavin and Nines waited for their company to arrive in the parking lot. 

Side by side, shoulders barely touching whenever he took a puff of his cigarette. Gavin had thrown his old jacket in the backseat and knew that his coworkers would give him shit for the new coat. But he didn’t particularly give a fuck at the moment. It was cold and it was better anyway.

Beside him Nines kept sweeping his eyes across the dark parking lot, no doubt looking for signs of trouble like he was made to do. Gavin found it pointless but kept his mouth shut and let him do his thing. What dumbass was gonna assault an android and a cop in front of a police station?

After a few moments the cavalry had arrived. 

“ _Finally._ Now we can get a move on.”

Anderson, the head of the trio, spoke first, “You want your gift or not asshole?” 

Gavin huffed and scuffed a shoe against the ground, then he noticed the small box he was clutching in his hand, “You got me something other than drinks?” suddenly his voice turned sing song, “Oh Hank, if you wanted to show that you cared about me you could’ve just sucked my dick.”

Tina snorted and Connor’s LED went yellow briefly, but Hank just grinned and tossed him the poorly wrapped package. “I have a feeling you’ll eat those words.”

What did _that_ mean?

“Nice coat by the way.” Anderson, the bastard, walked on to his car with Connor following right behind him. 

Minutely his partner’s predecessor noded as he passed and said, “We’ll meet you there Reed.”

Gavin cast his fading figure a dirty look and then turned quickly up to see how Nines took the response. 

He could’ve swore that the android averted his eyes from looking at Gavin. Now growing even more frustrated he opened his mouth to question, but Tina interrupted him.

“Before you get your panties in a twist Gav, at least take my gift.”

God, he didn’t even notice that she was holding one. She passed it over and then started to head for her car. Not before reaching over to give two firm pats on his shoulder with a shit eating grin. 

Now worried, he looked at the flimsy packaging. “Why did you wrap it in brown paper and string?” he shouted at her, then more to himself and Nines he added, “Did she give me a flatten liver?”

For the first time since they encountered the trio Nines spoke up, “It does give the illusion that she gave you meat from a butcher. If there’s a layer of butcher’s paper then we should worry.” 

Gavin stuffed the gift under one arm and with his other he held out his half finished cigarette towards Nines in a silent, ‘hold this for me while I open the gift’. Nines plucked the cig from his fingers and tossed it to the ground, a second later snuffing out the embers with a heel. 

Dick.

Sighing at the lost Gavin put his focus on the gift. He struggled to get the string untied and when that failed he forced it around the package itself, “I can’t believe Tina came out to me as a cannibal on my birthday.” Luckily there was no butcher’s paper, but what he got was somehow worse. 

It was a t-shirt, really no surprise since the shape gave it away, but when he flipped it over to see the cheesy message that would no doubt be there he started to realize why Tina fled. The shirt was light blue with the cliche I heart NY on the front in big block lettering. Only NY was scribbled out furiously and instead in its place was the word ‘androids’.

Did the whole fuckin’ world know that he gained a soft spot for the plastic pricks?

“What a lovely gift.” 

Gavin glared up at him. “Better get familiar with it, since I’m gonna regift it to you when it’s your birthday.” 

Nines pushed himself off the side of his car and swung around. Hands folded behind his back but the rest of his posture screamed casual, “I don’t have a birthday. We should get going Detective, we don’t want to miss the first round.” Then, he winked. 

Like hell was Gavin gonna let this go, “Nice try at deflection.” Nines circled to the otherside of the car and got in. Eager, he followed starting up the car asking, “Well. How about a manufacturing date? The day you were activated? Or woke up or whatever?”

Nines turned stiff. His shoulders tensed, looked like the casual deflection tactic didn’t work. Gavin, not knowing when to stop for this shit, asked again, “Oh come on. Give me something. I gotta know when to prebook the strippers.” 

In the darkness, the most predominate light was Nines’ LED. Which was on a constant spin cycle and after a few moments it started to flash bits of yellow. 

“I… don’t know.”

Gavin stilled, damn his curiosity. Goddamn it now he felt guilty again, why was it that Nines made him question his choices? Why’d it have to be him?

He sighed. 

But didn’t say anything.

\---

Although the initial ride to the bar was strained, Nines decided to lighten the mood once they entered through the door. It was his partner’s birthday. It was a day to cut loose and not make things more stressful than he already made it. 

So he gave himself a mission.

→ Keep Det. Reed Happy

A mission that would hopefully go smoothly. 

If this mission was presented when they first met, Nines would’ve put the success rate at a 1.5%. But luckily they were past that point. He set his prediction as an 83%, less than he would like but actions earlier lowered it. 

So he’d have to make do.

The night began with Lieutenant Anderson’s original gift for Detective Reed, a round for the table. And ended with Gavin getting thrown out of the bar for ensuing a fight. 

As the hours ticked by the only ones who could get drunk did, halfway through Connor called Tina a cab and led her out. Though just before she wanted to give one last gift to ‘Gav’ and dragged an inebriated Anderson up onto the stage to sing a duet. The bar wasn’t a karaoke bar and through begging and reputation she managed to sing ‘Here Comes Your Man’ by ‘Pixies’ with the Lieutenant before taking her leave. An odd choice considering the song was not popular within their age group. 

The song aided significantly in Nines’ ‘Keep Det. Reed Happy’ mission though since, as he observed, Gavin would not stop smiling through the whole ordeal. 

It was extremely rare when he smiled so Nines made sure to keep a memory of everytime he caught it. 

The happiness didn’t last forever though, after Tina was sent home Connor eventually dragged his partner home as well. Which just left an very drunk and rowdy Reed with an android who’s guide to handling drunk people just dealt with how to manipulate them and how to arrest them. Needless to say it was rough.

Gavin ended up trying to get another drink but was too drunk to maintain balance. So he ended up bumping into a very burly man, spilling his beer over his shirt. Of course Detective Reed wasn’t much of a negotiator so he immediately attempted to start a fight with the man and after a failed placating attempt by Nines, Reed ended up with a bloody nose. For the disturbance Nines paid his drinks and led his partner outside. 

Fifty degrees fahrenheit, not bad for the time of year. 

“God. I could’ve done it.” Gavin leaned against him heavily, there was no way he could walk without sacrificing an arm over Nines’ shoulders and one of circling tightly at his hip. “You should’ve let me at ‘em.”

“He had seven inches over you.” Nines chastised himself, there was no sense arguing with him.

Gavin groaned as he clutched his face, “Still could’ve done it…”

Step by step Nines slowly led him towards his car. He released his hip and propped him up on the side of the car as he looked through a dazed Gavin coat pockets. Nines was starting to regret getting him a coat with so many layers and compartments. At last when he found them he unlocked the car and decided not to bother with the passenger seat, instead going directly towards the backseat. 

Before getting him in, he maneuvered a lazy Reed on the seat and faced him towards Nines. 

As he quickly checked to make sure nothing was broken Gavin broke the silence, “How the fuck are you not cold. I mean I’m not but I could pull that suit apart with my hands.” He giggled again and sighed. “I can’t feel my face.”

“Considering the amount of alcohol you consumed I’m not surprised.” Nines frowned, “Your nose isn’t broken but it won’t stop bleeding. Do you happen to have a first aid kit in your car?”

Gavin, who was hunched over and just spent the past minute smearing blood over his face in an attempt to stop it and experiment, looked up at him through bruising eyes, “Do I really fuckin’ look like a man who carries a first aid kit.”

“You’re right, you look like a man who carries a handkerchief.” Nines sighed again at his outburst and ran a quick test for his stress levels. Too high for comfort but they were unlikely to move. 

Below him Gavin just squinted. 

Miraculously, Reed somehow managed to not get any of the blood on his new coat, but at the rate his nose was running it was bound to happen. Not that Nines could help it though. For both of their benefits Nines shed off his Cyberlife jacket leaving him only in a thin black dress shirt. Quickly he folded it up and curled it into a ball. Taking and guiding his hands Nines led him to press his jacket lightly to his face. Gavin groaned again.

Next, he manhandled his body into the car and at least got him buckled in before Gavin decided to lay across the entire backseat. Nines murmured, “The more items you throw in your backseat the likelier I am taking your car and bringing it to a yard sale.” as he got things out of the way so Reed could be at least semi comfortable as he leaned into the cushions. Practically right next to his ears Gavin snorted at the remark, then yelped as it caused more blood to dribble down his face.

He caught and soaked it up with the jacket. 

“Hey… aren’t you worried that I’ll fuck up your coat. It looks pricey…” Nines left him there and quickly got in the driver's seat to start up the car. The jacket was expensive, but blood wasn’t going to ruin it. “No, it’s okay.”

“Mhn.”

Nines pulled out of the parking lot and set his course for Gavin’s place of residence. He was thinking through if he would call his mission a success or not when he spoke up again. “What do you think Hank meant when he said I was, ‘One step closer to being forty’? Was it a threat? I couldn’t tell. Maybe…” He trailed off, lost in his own thoughts. 

Although he couldn’t see what was happening, Nines could rely on his hearing to get an idea for what Gavin was doing. Mostly it was a lot of groaning and the occasional soft, _fuck._ Eventually he heard the soft tears of wrapping paper being pulled apart, Hank’s gift. Nines risked a quick look back to see his bloodied jacket stuffed under his head as a mock pillow. Gavin was holding some kind of novelty keychain on one hand and in the other was a handwritten note which was clearly folded up many times to fit in the box.

Nines turned back towards the road and reviewed his interaction with drunk Detective Reed. He was extremely talkative and as Tina termed, affectionate. But here, with the only light being from the car’s dash, his blue LED, and the occasional streetlight aiding Gavin with his reading he was quiet. It was like he had softer edges, not so frustrating and sarcastic.

He heard paper crinkling and then he heard the softest voice Gavin ever heard him use, “Nines?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. For, for everything. I… never said thanks for the coat, you don’t really know me--well. You know I’m an unlovable asshole with a lot of issues and yet you still spent all that money on me.” His voice cracked, “For a _coat._ ” Nines heard a heavy sigh, “I’m sorry. You… deserve a better partner than this fuck up.” He disagreed, but he let him finish, “Thanks for giving me your coat and, and, and not telling anyone about the shit I tell you. Thanks for uhm, saving me from accepting Connor’s gift. I’ll give him a, uh note or something later for it. I don’t do well when people give me expectations.” He waited a few moments but Gavin didn’t say anything else, taking another look back he saw that he had his back towards him, covering his face. Anderson’s note was left on the floor of the backseat.

Androids had to ability to multitask fluently which was extremely useful in conversations since he could focus on his objective and respond at the same time with no mistakes. So Nines was inwardly grateful for this ability because if he was human there was a high probability that he would have crashed the car from that admission.

He’d never expect something so… raw, from Gavin. What ever Hank wrote on that note it got him to open up, but it seemed like the whole day was too taxing for him. Nines put his ‘Keep Gavin Happy’ mission as a failure.

The rest of the ride was spent listening to the sounds of the city and his soft snores from the backseat.

When Nines arrived at his apartment he parked perfectly and got up to get him out of the car. He was already asleep and sprawled across the cushions, the chances of Reed successfully getting up the stairs by himself was slim to none. The amount of cooperation was going to be poor as well. Determined, Nines took back his jacket and flipped it over one of his shoulders, crusty with blood but nothing a good cleaning won’t fix.

He grabbed underneath his arms and pulled Reed out of his car, the quick change in temperature and altitude as he was put upright woke him up a bit. 

Gavin put all of his energy into leaning back into Nines’ form, not even bothering to get his feet moving. “Ugh. Fuck.” Using his arms in an attempt to keep him somewhat upright Nines crept along towing around Gavin. He held him oddly, it was more of a hug from behind than anything, but rearranging the position wasn’t worth it. Back to familiar a role from before he propped Gavin on the side of the building and unlocked the door with his keys.

Nines had only been to his apartment one other time and that was a quick trip. Gavin practically rushed him in and out and seemed a bit embarrassed at the prospect of him being there. Now, he really had no room to complain. 

Dodging the cats that circled around them Nines got him through the living room and into his bedroom. The cats that were lying on his bed got up from their nests and started sniffing at Gavin once he was laid down on the pile of pillows. Soon as his head hit the mattress his swearing and grumbling stopped and was replaced with snoring again.

Before, Nines only got to the living room and wasn’t able see his bedroom. He allowed himself a selfish moment to look around. Shirts were strewn across the floor which actually made sense considering that his closet was overflowing with clothing. 

→ Gavin likes clothing (or fashion)?

The dressers and desk space were pretty clean, only loose bits of paper left here or there. One wall had a giant bookshelf that was filled to the brim. Nines couldn’t see book titles in the darkness but it was clear that the collection was expansive. 

→ Avid book reader

Then he turned back to the bed. Above it held a variety of framed movie posters, most of which were of monster movies. Old ones, new ones, all of which had terrible reviews after a quick search online.

→ Fan of monster movies

No wonder why Gavin didn’t want him to go into his room, the space told Nines more about him than he ever would give up. He took in the information and saved it for review for another time, perhaps a future gift idea.

Nines looked back down at Gavin’s figure. There was more he had to do before he left, so he created a list of objectives.

→ Get blood off of Gavin’s face  
→ Get him comfortable  
→ Leave water and aspirin on bedside table  
→ Feed cats

First order of business he tackled was getting him out of his coat and getting him semi presentable for sleeping. Face stuffed into the seemingly endless amount of pillows and blankets and half falling off the bed, the challenge seemed more daunting than it seemed.

Nines wondered how his actions ended him up here as he found a rag in the bathroom and wetted it. When he returned, he grabbed his face and pulled it back so it wasn’t obscured by the blankets. Now scrubbing off dried patches of blood from the detective’s face he wondered about the CyberLife employee who created him and if they were pleased by the fact that he was taking care of a drunk man like an AX400. 

No matter, it would give him plenty of blackmail to tease him with later. 

He was able to get most of the blood of his unconscious face, but Gavin would have to take a shower to get rid of the bits that managed to get in his hair. Satisfied he checked that objective off the list. Now was the hard part. Nines could easily lift the man up and shed off some of the more uncomfortable items of clothing, but strangely he found that he didn’t want to. Simply because the action would likely wake him up. 

In the long run it would be more comfortable for Gavin if he did it. So Nines did his best to not disturb him as he removed his coat, shoes, socks, and jeans. All the while his cats watched him with feigned interest. Once he was done he maneuvered him into a easier sleeping position. For good measure he threw on some stray blankets on top of him and checked off that mission as a success. 

Once he left the bedroom Gavin’s cats followed him out, now they were meowing at him for attention and food. The gang kept circling around his feet, diving in and out of the way, he was forced to take extra precautions not to step on any of them. How was Reed able to transverse them easily without a glance towards the ground?

First, he head to the window to let the cats that tended to hang around the fire escape in. Then he refilled the food and water bowls, Nines was careful to make sure they weren’t eating too fast. Although his partner would give him shit for it, he still looked up how to care for cats properly on the internet. 

Detective Reed would always disagree when Nines looked things up since he claimed that would ruin the whole experience. But he wasn’t here to bitch and Nines was aware of the phrase, ‘herding cats’ so for safety sake he accommodated accordingly. 

One last thing to do off his checklist. Exploring the cupboards he found a shelf full of medicine, not wanting to pry Nines kept his search strictly for aspirin. After finding a tab and filling a glass with water returned to the bedroom to complete his mission. 

Well, at least he accomplished something for that day.

Now… he had nothing to do. All dressed up and nowhere to go. 

Then he saw a new mission pop up, 

→ Make sure Gavin is okay in the morning

The mission was completely unnecessary, there was nothing left he could do to help alleviate any pain the detective had. The cats were fed, the doors were locked, and when Reed woke up Nines knew that he would not be pleased to see him. And logically he would ask the question, ‘Why did you stay?’.

It’s not like it was a troublesome trip back home, quite the contrary. But yet the longer he spent standing there in that bedroom the more he wanted to stay. Damn deviancy, this internal struggle would never had happened before. 

Yet, he would never give it up and become a heartless machine. Sighing and cursing himself for acting so human he went back to the living room and laid on the couch. Androids did not sleep and he did not need to go into satis, so he was stuck listening to his thoughts. 

Or he could play with the cats until Gavin was awake again. That sounded much better.

Before he could get back up a cat jumped on top of his chest. It was the same white cat Gavin picked up from the street, her fur was no longer the ashy grey color from before. Now it was a beautiful milky white. Cautiously he started to pet her, after a few moments it seemed she recognized him and started to purr loudly. Nines registered the soft rumbling against his chest and continued to pet her until she lied down. 

Well now he was obviously stuck, with clearly no other options he accepted his fate and settled in. Now all he had to do was wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. All I write is fluff so I hope you enjoy my brand.


End file.
